No business model is timeless, no super item can be done once and for all.
Source | Investor (ID:touzijias)
Author | Liu Xiaoyue
In this world, the only constant is change.
In today's era of rapidly changing business environment and endless product categories, how to stand out from many brands and maintain long-term vitality is an important issue that contemporary enterprises are most concerned about. After a long-term follow-up study of the new consumption track, we selected the most high-profile new consumer brands in the past two years, such as Heytea, Yuanqi Forest, and Heqizheng, which have recently attracted much attention to launch bubble herbal tea, for in-depth analysis as an example.
The underlying logic of commercial society has changed dramatically
Those who achieve great things all pay attention to going with the flow and moving in response to the times. For new consumer brands, it is necessary to recognize that the underlying logic of the current business environment has changed radically. Whether it is an industry, an enterprise or a subdivision into a certain product, it is necessary to put the quasi-era and follow the trend.
Tianshi: According to Maslow's theory of needs, people's needs are a process of continuous climbing. With the continuous improvement of people's income level and the more adequate social supply, people have a greater demand for quality, health and personalized consumption. In particular, the epidemic has greatly enhanced people's recognition and favorability for health and safety products, and as far as the food and beverage track is concerned, the concepts of natural freshness, sugar-free health, medicinal food homology, and plant herbs are extremely popular.
Geographical advantage: The development of "Internet +" has changed the narrative of commercial society, the information asymmetry between consumers and enterprises has been broken, and people's brand choices have a stronger initiative. The brand communication method of traditional mass media bombardment and one-way indoctrination of advertising has completely failed, and brands say that they are useless, and consumers think that you are really good.
The consumer population of the Z era has become the mainstream group of the contemporary era, and this part of the population has enjoyed the compound dividends brought by globalization, digitalization and social development, with an open vision and a strong sense of self. They pursue individuality, advocate quality, value, emphasize self-pleasing experience beyond basic functions, and are willing to pay for added value.
Three prerequisites for becoming a dark horse
Understanding the underlying logic of the commercial society, we can better understand why traditional brands have declined, and why brands such as Xicha, Yuanqi Forest, Heqizheng and Zhong Xuegao have risen.
First, category innovation.
Ten years ago and ten years later, people's needs were very different. For brands, the first thing to think about is how to adapt to the changes in the world, places and environments to innovate accordingly.
Taking the milk tea category favored by young people as an example, ten years ago, our impression of milk tea was still stuck in "Yolemei" and "Xiangpiaopiao", but now the market has been replaced by new tea drinks such as Xicha and Naixue. The so-called "new" tea drink is a fundamental subversion of traditional milk tea that conforms to the changes of the times.
The products produced by traditional milk tea shops mostly use a variety of highly industrialized powders, condiments, and flavors, while the new tea drinks represented by Heytea tea should be extracted from the original leaf tea and seasoned with a variety of fresh fruits and juices, which is undoubtedly more in line with people's consumption upgrading trend and the consumption proposition of the Z era.
"Sparkling water" is a new track of explosions in the past two years, and a series of explosive products such as Yuanqi Forest have been spawned in this category. In fact, there is a certain scientific reason for the popularity of "sparkling water", which adds carbon dioxide or phosphoric acid that can produce foam and stimulate taste, and produces a pleasant taste after drinking. At the beginning of cola's birth, it was also an odorless plant drink, and was invented by pharmacists for medicinal purposes; later, cola was popular around the world because of its process innovation of adding "steam".
Time has come to modern times, and these emerging brands pay more attention to the implantation of the concept of "health" while retaining the "cool" feeling of bubbles. For example, Yuanqi Forest uses erythritol instead of traditional aspartame, and constantly strengthens the concept of "0 sugar 0 calories and 0 fats" to overcome the user's mind, so that consumers can get pleasure while reducing the "guilt" of health.
And its regular rules go further, extending the "bubble" to the herbal tea track, and launching the bubble herbal tea drink in the hot summer, positioning itself as the consumer's summer "fire extinguishing gas". This "herbal tea cola" with Chinese characteristics not only invests in the taste of young people, but also maintains the health effects of traditional herbal tea, whether it is summer heat, or staying up late overtime, late supper barbecue is an excellent companion, meeting the multi-level concept of herbal tea for young people.
For long-established brands such as herbal tea, it has been facing the dilemma of "re-innovation of a century-old category", and it is acting as a "herbal tea innovation expert", which has chosen "bubbles" as a breakthrough this time, while expanding the growth space of herbal tea categories, it has also opened up a new track in the industry. It not only broadens the drinking scene of herbal tea, it is no longer limited to the auxiliary functional drinks of "fire reduction"; at the same time, it also exports China's characteristic food culture and creates the characteristic IP of "herbal tea cola", which undoubtedly has important enlightenment significance for the development of the industry.
Second, product upgrades.
Choose the right direction, but also cut to the pain point. What brands need to understand is that the current consumer's product demand must be "quality" before "price", and on the basis of "functionality", it must also have "added value" that includes creativity, emotion, culture and so on.
This year's Internet celebrity brand Zhong Xuegao is a typical case, why can you sell 66 yuan a piece of "sky-high price" that is still seconds? With its value supported, Zhong Xue's noble righteousness is strong. As its founder, Lin Sheng, put it, "The value for money is terrible because it is bottomless." We want you to say I'm expensive, but you think I'm a good thing. ”
The reason why Zhong Xue is noble is because its value is not only delicious and beautiful "ice cream", but also because it is "social currency". Whether it is raw materials, styling, brand stories, and consumer experience, they are too suitable for people to punch, to take photos, to share. Through high-quality, high-pressure products, to show their sense of life, forced sense.
For Heqizheng, people's expectations for it are not only to "make a good herbal tea" and "make the herbal tea delicious". That is, taste and health, innovation and classicism at the same time. In order to create a "delicious herbal tea", and its implanted "refreshing" full of bubbles, and the use of non-phosphoric acid bubble process, to avoid the traditional carbonated drinks due to the addition of phosphoric acid, and the body calcium loss, osteoporosis and other health risks.
In order to "make herbal tea delicious", highlight the classic taste and health value of herbal tea, and its selection of plant raw materials, three flowers and three grasses and one leaf, the use of unique Chinese herbal medicine fresh boiling extraction patent technology, the use of Chinese herbal raw materials production line on-site boiling, extraction and filling process, to the greatest extent to ensure the nutritional composition of raw materials, drinking effect is better.
Third, the underlying support.
Whether it is the ultimate innovation or outstanding quality, it needs the brand's solid underlying capability support, including upstream production capacity, downstream channels and other aspects, which requires the brand's persistent investment and deep accumulation.
For example, in order to ensure the high quality and stable supply of product raw materials, Heytea deeply cultivates the upstream of the supply chain, in addition to customizing and purchasing high-quality raw materials, it also built its own organic tea garden in Fanjingshan, Guizhou, and also began to build its own strawberry base.
Another example is Yuanqi Forest, in order to open up the last kilometer from product to consumer, it attaches great importance to the construction of the channel system at the beginning of its establishment.
There is also a strong support behind the parent company Dali Food Group. After decades of accumulation, Dali Foods has established an industry-leading R&D center, a world-class advanced production line for food and beverages, and a perfect dealer network and channel points across the country. Therefore, it has created many mainstream brands in the industry such as Dali Garden, Kebik, Delicious Point, Mei BakingChen, Doubendou, Lehu, and Qizheng.
In short, no business model is timeless, and no super item can be once and for all. Even Coca-Cola, which has been popular for a hundred years, has continued to explore the use of "Coke + coffee", "fiber +", "sugar-free", etc. to find more possibilities; even Yakult, which is "a small red bottle hitting the world", is also constantly exploring the use of "sugar reduction" to meet the health needs of consumers... Innovation is an important driving force for the brand to keep moving forward.
Finally, let us review today's thinking, Xicha, Yuanqi Forest, and Qizheng and other brands explain that in this highly homogeneous, fierce competition in the new consumption track, if you want to break out of the siege and stand out, you must conform to the trend, change with the times, category innovation, product upgrading, deep ploughing foundation, cultivation of internal skills.